10 Biggest Love/Hate Albums In Rock Music History

10. The Sporting Life - John Paul Jones And Diamanda Galas

The entire career of American avant-garde singer and composer, Diamanda Galas, comes under the love/hate category. Her work campaigning on social issues, mental health, political injustice and AIDS education is highly commendable. Her music (and idiosyncratic singing) will either entrance or repel you. That her live shows often embrace numbers by experimental artists such as Iannis Xenakis and John Zorn should tell you much. Curiously, however, Galas has also worked with more conventional acts such as Erasure, Barry Adamson and, in this case, former Led Zeppelin bassist, John Paul Jones.

The Sporting Life dates back to 1994, and features Galas in an trio setting with Jones and drummer Pete Thomas. The danger with this sort of collaboration is that fans from both sides may well find the material difficult to engage with, and this is just what occurred with many listeners. Led Zep fans will delight in Jones' rumbling bass and Thomas' fine, muscular playing, but Galas' free-form delivery, which veers from stream-of-consciousness, high-speed scattershot to extended primal screams, is a challenge for those not accustomed to her style.

For some The Sporting Life hits that rare target between the avant-garde and the accessible. For others, it's a fine rock album spoiled by an outlandish singer.